


It Really Was a Long Way Down—The Too Long of a Way Down Job

by crayonbreakygal



Category: Leverage
Genre: Anger, Drama, F/M, Relationship Goals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 07:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: Nate knew in the back of his mind he couldn’t con the mountain. Or Sophie.  Takes place during The Long Way Down Job, season four





	It Really Was a Long Way Down—The Too Long of a Way Down Job

**Author's Note:**

> Took a few liberties that Sophie could actually hear that conversation that Nate was having with Karen in that tent. There were times that Hardison could hear Parker and Eliot on the mountain as they were climbing above that imaginary line. He only lost their signal after they dropped into that crevasse. So yeah, she heard it. Mr. Emotionally Unavailable sure does love to be a drama queen when necessary.

It Really Was a Long Way Down—The Too Long of a Way Down Job

Takes place during The Long Way Down Job, season four

 

This was worse than a hangover.  His head felt like it was going to split into two along with the fact that he couldn’t keep any food down.  Eliot was right.  It was altitude sickness, doubled up with the fact that he hadn’t had a drink in almost 24 hours.  Maybe if he just had one drink?  It was either have that drink or endure the scathing looks from Sophie for having that drink.  If he was drunk, why would he care about the look?

They had just been in San Lorenzo a few days before. Why had he agreed to take a case this soon after being beat up and almost killed, yet again?  Moreau wasn’t exactly nice about being bested by the team.  Being slammed up against the wall hurt like a son of a bitch.  Then not getting any sleep the night before they left had him aching in more ways than one.  At least he enjoyed that night.  He hadn’t enjoyed the hangover though, downing several aspirin as they got on the plane for Boston.  Sophie didn’t look any better, sunglasses snuggly against her face to ward off any bright light.  His were in the exact same place, even on the plane.

The next morning had him meeting with the new client. He had told the team he wouldn’t take another client for a few weeks.  He lied.  It was critical that they get on that mountain in time. If they didn’t, the evidence would disappear.  Scrambling to equip everyone, Hardison made the reservations for the next day, knowing they would have virtually no time to set up.

The dizziness had started not long after they arrived on the mountain.  Nate just thought it was because he was dehydrated from all the travel and not drinking enough liquids.  Even downing a bottle of water hadn’t accomplished much.  The headache started soon after, but he pushed through.

Nate knew in the back of his mind he couldn’t con the mountain.  He also knew that this job would wrap up long before the symptoms became critical. Then the client decided on her own to climb the mountain by herself.  No one else was available, so it was up to him to bring her back down before she was injured.

Ever since getting shot on that ship, his team thought that he was emotionally compromised.  Almost daily, there were comments on how his feelings intruded on every job.  He couldn’t stand the fact that a good man, a man that they had used to arrest the bad guys, had gotten shot.  Sure, that job was hard on all of them.  He was sent to jail because of it.  He was shot because of it.  That didn’t make him more emotional, did it? Hardison even called him drama queen late one night while they were researching.

Did he invite the drama or was it just the team now knew he actually cared about what he was doing?  He couldn’t go from asshole control freak to emotional mess fast enough for them?  Which one did they want? Grief replaced by anger, which then was replaced by him being an asshole to everyone, including Sophie. Was that the Nate they all wanted?

Dammit, something had to change. His anger was getting in the way of everything he held dear.  If he wanted to keep his family intact and not have a runner again (mainly Sophie), he had to figure out how to manage his emotions, whether it be about the job or what he was starting to feel for Sophie.

Who was he kidding? He’s had feelings for Sophie for quite a while. He just didn’t necessarily understand those feelings. Emotional mess?  Maybe that was better than angry asshole.

As he listened to Sophie do her magic on Drexel, he not only felt proud, he was in awe of her, just as he was with the other three on many occasions.  Sure, they still pissed him off too many times to count, especially when they brought up his drinking.

Eliot was right.  His blood felt like it was starting to boil.  He needed, no he wanted them all to know that no matter what, whether it was putting himself in danger or the everyday things, he was there for them.  He hoped they realized that one day.  His days needed to be fueled by something else other than anger.

Nate slumped over in a chair after Drexel was led away by the park rangers.  Karen, their client, was being consoled by Sophie at the other end of the tent.

“Nate, you don’t look so good.”

Eliot was right.  He didn’t look good. He felt like crap. The faster they were off that mountain, the better for him.

“We leavin’, now. Before Nate starts to stroke out or something.”

Hardison was right.  Nate wasn’t in the best of shape, had been knocked around in San Lorenzo, and he hadn’t been able to sneak a drink in with all the climbing he had to do to save Karen.

“Yeah, you look like crap,” Parker added.  She didn’t even look winded, just a rosy glow on her cheeks probably from the cold and wind outside.

“Oh my. We most definitely should go. Now.”

Sophie was now in charge, grabbing her coat and hat as Hardison zipped up his jacket. 

“Better hope the road is plowed,” Hardison reminded everyone.

Eliot turned on the van, blowing hot air to warm up the interior.  Parker took shotgun, which was probably good since she had the best eyesight of all of them and could spot danger quicker than anyone. 

Sophie wrapped Nate in a blanket while she buckled herself in beside Hardison.  Hardison tapped away at his phone, glancing up and down while Eliot steered the van out of the snow-covered parking lot.

“Road’s supposedly plowed. We will see. Nearest hospital is thirty-five miles down the mountain.”

“I don’t need a hospital,” Nate growled back.

“So says the white, pasty guy. And I don’t mean that as that’s what you usually look like.  You are really pale.”

Hardison was probably on point, but Nate didn’t want the rest of them thinking he was going to keel over.

Sophie felt his forehead (why did she do this).  He felt like a little kid sitting in the back of the van, wrapped up in a blanket, water in his hand.  She had handed him the water immediately after getting him settled.

“Just behave yourself.  We’ll be there in short order. They can check you out. You can grumble and complain all you want.  Just be alive so that you can grumble and complain all you want.”

The van turned quiet quickly. Eliot was concentrating on not crashing the van on the slick road, while Parker leaned forward to look for anything that might cause an accident.  It took them twice as long to get down the mountain as it did to drive up to the base camp. 

With two bags of saline solution and twelve hours of observation, Nate was good to go.  The rest of the team had found a place to lay low (he didn’t ask) while the doctors checked Nate over, declaring him fit enough to go home with the caveat that he rest for a few days, drink plenty of fluids and to actually eat something other than power bars.  And a drink, not prescribed by a doctor.  Nate needed a drink in the worst way.  Hardison didn’t know it, but Nate had hidden a flask in the van. While Eliot was busy driving and the rest of them were sleeping, Nate was finally able to help himself. He sighed in relief on that first drink.  The flask’s contents would be enough until they arrived back at his place. 

So, he did some stupid things on this job.  He never should have taken one right after San Lorenzo.  He should have slowed down, taken stock after not sleeping much over the last week, his diet consisting of whatever he could scrounge up.  Eliot hadn’t exactly been available to cook for them, wrapped up in helping save a whole country and more on that last one. 

“I see you found your stash,” Sophie whispered to him.

Nate just grinned back.

“At least you now have more color in your cheeks.  Do not pull a stunt like that again.”

“I will stay off of mountains from now on.”

“No, you will run things by me instead of jumping off a short pier.  There are reasons why we are a team. Remember? Partners?”

“I seem to remember more than partners,” slipped out before he could stop his big mouth from opening.

“I seem to remember all the bruises forming on your back, for instance.  I do remember the fact that you had trouble moving the day after, and it just wasn’t because of being manhandled by Moreau.”

“Are you saying I’m getting too old?”

“I’m saying you’re a magnet for trouble.”

Her hand slipped into his, squeezing lightly.

“Then keep me out of trouble.”

The glow from Hardison’s equipment was the only illumination in the back of the van.  Hardison was lightly snoring nearby, oblivious to the quiet conversation that had started between the two.  Parker’s head lulled to the side of the passenger seat in front as Eliot drove on toward home.

“I heard what you said,” Sophie confessed. “While I was stalling Drexel, I heard your little speech to Karen.”

“And?”

“Do you feel that your luck has run out?”

She was serious.  This wasn’t a “Nate needs a pep talk” discussion she wanted to have.

“Sometimes I feel that all I have is luck.  No matter what I do, it doesn’t make much of a difference.”

“Wait, wait. That’s where you’re wrong.  We just gave a woman her husband back, if just for a moment. Now she can move on, at peace with the fact that he loved her more than anything. Every time we put our necks out there, some good comes out of it.  We saved a bloody country.”

“Well, not saved as much as subverted an election.”

“Close enough.”

“What happens, when it all goes to shit on us?”

“This is why you need someone. You can’t just keep making these decisions on your own. You get shot, you get beat up, you almost die on a mountain. It has to stop.”

“Hey, I didn’t get shot on this one.”

“But that mountain almost got the best of you.”

That mountain almost buried him in more than snow.  It made him realize that his anger was burying him, deep.  Could he dig his way out?  Did he want to dig his way out?

Later, as Nate stammered and waved his arms, trying to draw Sophie off guard so she wouldn’t question him about that memorable night and her real name, he wondered if he did want it to be memorable. He also wondered when it would all blow up in his face, taking them down with him.  If getting shot didn’t take him down, taking over a country didn’t do him in, how could a mountain do that?  No, it wouldn’t be a mountain. It just might be the woman standing right in front of him. That might be a good thing. Anger could only get him so far.

 

He didn’t remember. Oh bloody hell, he really didn’t remember. She must not let him drink so much next time.  If there was a next time.  She contemplated when there would be a next time.  As he stammered and flailed around, stuttering out that it was indeed memorable and that it shouldn’t happen again, Sophie schemed how she could get him into her bed again.  She’d turn that anger into something else, just like she turned her need into being someone other than what she was into a fairly decent person who helped people.  Nate had a long way to go, hopefully up, not down.  She was willing to stick with him to see which way.


End file.
